Notts County v Bury

22 February 2013

Self destruct at Meadow Lane

A Steven Schumacher stunning strike put the Shakers in front half way through the first half, and should have doubled their lead when Ebanks-Landell headed wide soon after, but the loss of Stephane Zubar at half time quickly followed by ten minutes of sheer madness brought defeat at Meadow Lane.

Bury began the game brightly, pegging the hosts into their own final third for a good five minutes. A first minute foul on David Worrall on the edge of the centre circle brought a first chance to get the ball into the Notts County box. The delivery from Regan brought some quick crisp passing but a rushed clearance from Sheehan cleared the ball.

The home side’s first move into the Bury box came on seven minutes when Campbell-Ryce jinked the ball into the corner of Trevor Carson’s box, but a good challenge from Zac Thompson saw the ball pushed out of play.

Another ball into the Bury box on 10 minutes saw Cofie make the move to latch onto the Neal Bishop pass, but strong defending from Stephane Zubar saw the ball cleared before the Shakers were awarded a free kick on the half way line following a foul on David Worrall.

Soon after a wayward cross from Carl Regan took an unkind deflection, with a corner being handed to the Shakers. Joe Skarz’s delivery was quickly dealt with the Alan Judge causing problems in midfield. He fed the ball to Kelly and his cross into the box was finally cleared by Eastham with the ball bouncing dangerously in front of Carson.

Kelly brought more problems for the Bury defence on 17 minutes, he got into the corner using pace and delivered a good ball into the Bury box, but Carl Regan read the bounce of the ball better than Arquin to clear the danger.

Bury took the lead though on 23 minutes when Steven Schumacher intercepted a bad pass from Kelly half way inside his own half. He took the ball and strode forward before unleashing a stunning strike that flew into the top corner from around 25 yards, to record his ninth goal of the season.

Goal: Notts County 0 Bury 1 (Schumacher 23)

County attempted to respond almost straight away with Arquin firing from a long way out, the ball bounced just in front of Trevor Carson and he just about managed to palm the ball away for a corner. The first delivery found the head of Zubar who headed across his goal and away for a second corner. The second delivery saw Worrall stoop to head the ball clear before being passed out of play by John Cofie for a Bury throw.

Alan Judge was the next to test Carson on 28 minutes, but again from a long way out. This time though Carson held the shot comfortably allowing him to quickly clear the ball back up the field. From his clearance, Thompson found David Worrall on the edge of the box and his first time shot at goal flew straight at Bartos Bialkowski, who held the ball comfortably.

Another Alan Judge half chance came on 35 minutes when he took the ball around Skarz and fired from the corner of the box, but again the ball flew straight at Trevor Carson.

Bury should have doubled their lead on 37 minutes when a clever ball from David Worrall saw Ethan Ebanks-Landell rise to powerfully head the ball just wide of the post from the edge of the six yard box.

John Cofie was the next to shoot on goal, and again from a long way out, but his effort lacked pace and rolled into the arms of Trevor Carson. Moments later a cross from Sheehan saw Cofie rise above the Bury defence to head goalwards, but his effort flew inches wide of the Bury post.

Stephane Zubar collected an injury just before the break when he seemed to jar his knee awkwardly as he landed from jumping to clear the ball. After a quick spell of treatment though he was back on the field and back in the action.

Within three minutes though, Zubar crumpled to the floor, another visit from Tom Walsh confirmed the worst fears and he was brought off the field with a damaged right knee. Kevin Blackwell left the change until the start of the second half.

Half time: Notts County 0 Bury 1

Tom Soares replaced Zubar for the start of the second half with Notts also replacing Arquin for Zoko. Notts started the second half with Kelly swinging in two good balls into the box from the far flank, and on both occasions Carl Regan managed to head clear. The final clearance saw the Shakers put together a 15 pass move before the ball was knocked wide to Tom Soares, he flicked the ball to an advancing David Worrall – who stole into the corner of the box before firing at goal, but his chance flew harmlessly wide of the target.

A Bury throw on 48 minutes saw Regan lob the ball towards the edge of the area, Soares collected and quickly fed the ball to Nicky Ajose, but his sternly struck shot went straight into the arms of keeper Bialkowski from the edge of the area.

Notts County got back into the game on 57 minutes when John Cofie slipped a ball across the Bury back four, this allowed Julian Kelly to steal in between Landell and the covering Ajose, and he managed to connect to the ball to poke it through Trevor Carson and into the back of the net.

Goal: Notts County 1 Bury 1 (Kelly 57)

Disaster hit just three minutes later when a long hopeful ball from Campbell-Ryce bounced into the Bury area, Ashley Eastham initially looked to have the ball under his control, but an awkward bounce allowed Francois Zoko to get a toe to the ball, his second touch fired the ball across Carson and into the far corner to give the home side the lead.

Goal: Notts County 2 Bury 1 (Zoko 60)

A rash challenge from Carl Regan on 62 minutes handed the home side a free kick near the corner flag, and Regan a yellow card. Thankfully Trevor Carson dealt with the delivery easily and quickly cleared the ball.

The Magpies got a third goal on 64 minutes when Eastham headed the ball back to Carson, but the effort lacked weight and Zoko stretched a long leg for the ball and managed to poke it past Carson to make it three goals inside six minutes for the home side.

Goal: Notts County 3 Bury 1 (Zoko 64)

Bury’s self-destruct button was pressed firmly down on 73 minutes when Ashley Eastham brought down Alan Judge in the box for an obvious penalty. Jamal Campbell-Ryce stepped up and fired a firm shot beyond Carson for their fourth goal of the evening.